HUDSON Lectures
Our annual Hudson Lectures are named after George Vernon Hudson (1867 - 1946), amateur scientist (interested especially in entymology) and one of the original proponents of daylight saving.
George Vernon Hudson
You can read about him here:
Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch Hudson Lecture for 2023
The 2023 Hudson Lecture was held on Wednesday 25 October at 6.00pm at the Royal Society Te Aparangi’s Aronui Lecture Theatre.
An Evening with Quantum Computing
Professor Michele Governale, Victoria University of Wellington
Quantum mechanics has been a long-standing source of fascination and paradoxes. It is the quantum nature of matter particles that allows quantum computers to be more efficient than their classical counterparts for certain tasks as, for example, physics simulations. The idea to exploit quantum systems for simulating nature was first proposed by the great physicist Richard Feynman in the early 1980s.
Since then, there has been constant progress in the theory of quantum information. Once quantum algorithms can run on large-scale fault-tolerant quantum hardware, they can be employed to speed-up drug design, portfolio optimisation in finance, and quantum machine learning, to mention just a few applications. On the other hand, it has only recently become possible to create and manipulate individual quantum states with sufficient precision to realise quantum processors. However, these processors are still affected by noise in their operations and contain only a small number of quantum bits up to few hundreds. The quantum hardware available today belongs to the stage in the quantum-technology roadmap known as Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ).
Professor Governale gave a general introduction to quantum computers. He discussed the physical phenomena that give quantum computers an advantage with respect to their classical counterparts and provided a brief overview of the physical realizations of current quantum hardware. He concluded by speculating on the directions that quantum technologies might take in the near future.
The lecture was attended by approximately 55 people.
David Lillis
Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch Hudson Lecture for 2022
Missing pieces: Epistemic and argumentative perspectives in science education Dr. Michael Johnston, Senior Fellow, New Zealand Initiative
Link to Dr. Johnston’s Lecture here
Download Dr. Johnston’s Power Point here
In his lecture, Dr. Johnston considered science education from theoretical, epistemic and argumentative perspectives. The theoretical perspective focused on teaching specific contributions of science to human knowledge; for example, genetics, atomic structure and Newtonian mechanics. The epistemic perspective is concerned with developing students’ understanding of the processes by which scientific theories are tested. The argumentative perspective involves learning to argue in a reasoned fashion, guided by evidence and to contest ideas in good faith.
Historically, science education in New Zealand has focused most strongly on the theoretical perspective – on what teachers might refer to as ‘content’ knowledge. There has also been some attention to epistemic aspects of science, usually in the context of ‘practical’ investigations. The extent to which these activities convey understanding of science epistemology is, however, questionable. Scientific argumentation, in particular its dispositional aspect, is not usually addressed directly in science education at all.
Dr. Johnston discussed the relationship between traditional Māori knowledge and science, and the recent controversy relating to the letter to the Listener from seven Auckland University professors. Dr. Johnston supported the professors and argued that, while indigenous knowledge and academic knowledge both have a place in education, they should be represented separately in the curriculum.
Dr. Johnston argued for a greater focus on both epistemology and argumentation in science education. A more explicit focus on epistemology would provide a powerful set of cognitive tools to enable young people to steer a path between positivist objectivism and radical relativism. It would also help to clarify what science is and how it is different than other ways of understanding natural phenomena. Scientific argumentation, especially the disposition to argue in good faith, is best learned through modelling by teachers and practice by students.
The lecture was held on Wednesday 14 September 2022, 6.00 - 7.00 pm at the Royal Society of New Zealand premises, 11 Turnbull St. Thorndon, Wellington. Fifty people attended.
Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch Hudson Lecture for 2021
On Wednesday 20 July 2022 at 6.00 pm the Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch hosted its 2021 Hudson Lecture. This lecture was deferred from 2021 because of COVID.
Down the Rabbit Hole: The wonderland of New Zealand’s folic acid saga
Professor Barry Borman (Massey University)
Professor Borman gave a fascinating account of the issues surrounding fortification of bread with folic acid. He said that 8 July 2021 was momentous in the history of public health in New Zealand. That day, Government announced the long overdue introduction of mandatory fortification of non-organic bread-making wheat flour with folic acid. Thirty years previously (11 September 1992), and based on the results of a multicenter randomized control trial, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all women of childbearing age should consume 0.4mg of folic acid per day to reduce the risk of having a child with a neural tube defect (e.g. spina bifida).
Professor Borman’s lecture traced the interweaving strands of science and politics in New Zealand’s implementation of a scientifically-proven method of primary prevention.
Professor Barry Borman is Professor of Epidemiology, Massey University, and Director of Environmental Health Intelligence NZ (EHINZ). Since 1987, he has been the Director of the NZ Congenital Anomalies Register, which monitors the occurrence and conducts epidemiological studies of birth defects in NZ. He represents New Zealand at the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Research and Surveillance (ICBDSR). Barry has been closely involved in NZ’s folic acid saga since 1992 and has been a member of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Primary Industries Folic Acid Technical Advisory Groups.
The lecture was held on Wednesday 20 July at 6.00 pm the Royal Society of New Zealand Wellington Branch at the Royal Society of New Zealand premises, 11 Turnbull St, Thorndon, Wellington. Fifteen people attended. Possibly, a combination of COVID and heavy rain reduced the size of the audience.
THE CASE FOR AIRBORNE POLLEN MONITORING IN NEW ZEALAND
On Wednesday 10 March 2021 Professor Rewi Newnham (Victoria University of Wellington) gave a public lecture entitled The Case for Airborne Pollen Monitoring in New Zealand. This lecture was the 2020 Hudson Lecture, deferred to 10 March 2021 because of COVID.
Professor Rewi Newnham
Professor Newnham spoke about the case for monitoring of airborne pollen in New Zealand. If pollen carries allergens (as many pollens do) then significant health issues can occur for people who are sensitive to the relevant allergens. In New Zealand, hay-fever and asthma prevalence is increasing, especially among children and among Māori and Pacific people
Pollen is a likely contributor, but information on airborne pollen levels is scarce and out-of-date. Beyond the health sector, pollen monitoring is becoming increasingly important for tracing the biological impacts of climate change. Warmer atmospheric temperatures and increased carbon dioxide levels resulting from climate change will lead to earlier starting dates for the pollen season across the world, longer pollen seasons and higher pollen production.
Rye grass pollen (one of the principal triggers of hayfever in New Zealand) as it is released into the atmosphere
Analysis has been undertaken on the onset of the birch pollen season in London from 1970 to 2010, determined from airborne pollen monitoring. The timing of birch season onset shows a close correspondence to the current (March) temperature and, to a lesser extent, with temperatures of the preceding winter.
The photograph shows a Hirst-type pollen trap, the main instrument used to sample pollen around the world
The lecture was held from 6.00 pm - 7.30 pm at Victoria University, Kelburn Campus on Wednesday 10 March 2021. The lecture was delayed to this date because of COVID. Approximately fifty people attended.
Hudson Lecture 2019: Wellington Branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi
Theoretical illiteracy and therapeutic dead ends: lessons from forensic and correctional practice
august 14, 2019 · 6-7 pm, Victoria University Lecture Theatre (Room TTRLT1) (Te Toki a Rata Building, Kelburn Parade)
Professor Tony Ward, Fellow of Royal Society Te Apāranig, School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, has primarily researched forensic and correctional topics, prominently centered on violent and sexual offenders and rehabilitation.
The classification and explanation of crime is important for research and practice. The categorization of problems associated with crime sets explanatory targets, underpins predictive models, and ideally provides clinicians with a rich description of offending groups and their various difficulties. Dynamic risk factors and offence type categories are the fundamental constructs in this work and structure forensic practice and guide rehabilitation policy throughout the world. However, in my view there are serious theoretical problems with these two constructs which adversely impact on their utility. Continued reliance on them is stifling the field and is rapidly leading to theoretical dead ends, fragmented practice, and disappointing rehabilitation outcomes. In this talk, I present new ways of formulating DRF and classifying crime and its related problems in the forensic and correctional domains. I demonstrate how these theoretical innovations can lead to better explanatory theories, and more targeted interventions.
Professor Tony Ward, School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington.
His theoretical contributions have resulted in substantial empirical research projects and innovations in treatment around the world. Tony is the developer of the Good Lives Model for the rehabilitation of offenders. He has taught clinical and forensic psychology at the universities of Melbourne, Canterbury, and Deakin and is a professorial fellow at the Universities of Birmingham, Kent, and Portsmouth. He has authored more than 400 academic publications.
2018 HUDSON LECTURE: “Scaling up: Getting to ‘language’ from individual differences”
Professor Miriam Meyerhoff (Victoria University of Wellington)
The 2018 Hudson Lecture was held on 16 August 2018 at Victoria University of Wellington.
Professor Meyerhoff is Professor of linguistics in the VUW School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies. Miriam is a leading sociolinguist, a discipline that studies the effect of any or all aspects of society on how language is used. Her research has focused on language use in New Zealand, the Pacific and the UK. Her latest research focusses on variation in the English of Auckland citizens, a richly linguistically diverse community. Miriam was made a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2017.
Linguistics studies the structure of human languages and how languages are used. Professor Meyerhoff’s particular interest lies in the field of language contact. What happens when speakers of languages (or dialects) collide? How do speakers bridge their individual differences? And how does the way they resolve those differences shape what we come to call separate ‘languages’?
Professor Meyerhoff outlined partial answers for these questions, drawing on data from a number of diverse fieldwork sites: urban centres in the UK and Auckland, and smaller communities in Vanuatu and the Caribbean. In the course of this, her team have developed some innovative methods for modelling the bridge between differences at the level of individuals and at the level of dialects/languages. She also talked about how communities of speakers ‘scale up’ in order to identify their ways of talking as a distinct language by drawing on ongoing research in northern Vanuatu.
Professor Miriam Meyerhoff works within the School of Linguistics and Applied language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. Miriam is a leading sociolinguist, a discipline that studies the effect of any or all aspects of society on how language is used. Her research has focused on language use in New Zealand, the Pacific and the UK. Her latest research focusses on variation in the English of Auckland citizens, a richly linguistically diverse community. Miriam was made a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2017.
Click here for a link to Professor Meyerhoff’s lecture